I am finally getting around to posting some reports. I had an absolutely EPIC summer. Louisiana in June, Montana and Idaho in July, and Alaska in August. So I'll post a report on each trip in the proper forums (I think). Here is the first. Louisiana. This year we spent 5 days with our favorite guide, but then we also spent 2 days with a second guide. Capt. Blaine Townsend is awesome, and we will not willingly give that trip up....ever. The marshy, thin water areas around Dulac and Cocodrie are awesome. We caught a bunch of Redfish from 7 to 17 pounds, and broke off a few that were almost certainly bigger. We were fishing an area of standing cypress timber, and there was a lot of logs in the water. Keeping the brutes free of the timber was a real trick. But we are there for the fight, and fights we did get! The second guide was new to us, and kind of a surprise. We thought we booked with one guide, at least that is what the service led us to believe, but 2 days prior to the trip we found out we were "handed off" to a different guide.
Capt. Randy was in no way a disappointment, and definitely knew where to find fish. The problem was the boat. My father-in-law has severe arthritis in his feet and ankles. Standing in the bow of a boat on a pedestal is not an option as his balance is just not good. He needs some sort of support to lean against or to sit on while he casts (and he is one heck of a good caster). The boat we thought we booked had the "cage" on the bow, Randy's boat only had a pedestal. This was no fault of Randy's, the service we booked through knew the situation and blew it. Oh well, we made the best of it and did catch fish. The weather was another story.
While in Dulac with Capt. Blaine, the weather was great. Hot, but thats what you expect. There was some breeze, but nothing over about 10mph. easily compensated for by the guide knowing how to position the boat. Up in Hopewell, where we spent the second part of the trip, the wind kicked up, and held at a steady 20-25 nauts (spelleing?) THAT was a challenge, but both of us can cast fairly well. In Hopewell we targeted Redfish and Black Drum. It was my first real experience with BD, and only knew they were serious heavy weights. Now I know that while definitely heavy weights, they are not the drag rippers that other species can be. That's not to say that they are not fighters, but its more like a 12 round wrestling match than a run-and-gun battle of a Tarpon, Bone, or Permit. I was using fast action 8wt rods and a BVK III reel. The two 8 wt rods I fished were an Orvis Helios and a BVK. Both performed in the wind admirably, but neither had the butt to pull those paddle-tailed Black's to the boat. Oh, I got it done, but would have been better armed with my 8wt TFO Axiom rod or a TiCrX.

This Red went eleven pounds.

The first BD I landed we called "one-eyed Willie" as it was missing an eye. It weighed 34 1/2 pounds on the Boga Grip.

__________________
"I was born to fish" Lee Wulff
"There's more B.S. in fly fishing then there is in a Kansas feedlot." Lefty Kreh
" It ain't over till it's over." Yogi Berra
"Your not old,you've simply acquired a patina." Swirlchaser

The mat worked pretty well in that stiff wind. We started without it, and the wind kept blowing the coiled line into the water. The only thing about it is that it worked best when the reel was located relatively right over the mat when shooting the line. If the mat was off to the side, at too shallow an angle, the "fingers" kind of caught the line a bit and we lost a bit of distance. But overall, I liked it better than a basket. It wasn't quite as invasive and cumbersome on deck.

The mat worked pretty well in that stiff wind. We started without it, and the wind kept blowing the coiled line into the water. The only thing about it is that it worked best when the reel was located relatively right over the mat when shooting the line. If the mat was off to the side, at too shallow an angle, the "fingers" kind of caught the line a bit and we lost a bit of distance. But overall, I liked it better than a basket. It wasn't quite as invasive and cumbersome on deck.